Mr. Baker was bewildered and grunted; Mr. Creighton was calmly furious;but Captain Allistoun was composed and thoughtful. He listened to Mr. Baker's growling argumentation, to Creighton's interjected and severe remarks, while looking down on the deck he weighed in his hand the iron belaying-pin -- that a moment ago had just missed his head -- as if it had been the only tangible fact of the whole transaction. He was one of those commanders who speak little, seem to hear nothing, look at no one -- and know everything, hear every whisper, see every fleeting shadow of their ship's life. His two big officers towered above his lean, short figure; they talked over his head; they were dismayed, surprised, and angry, while between them the little quiet man seemed to have found his taciturn serenity in the profound depths of a larger experience. Lights were burning in the forecastle;now and then a gust of babbling chatter came from forward, swept over the decks, and became faint, as if the unconscious ship gliding gently through the great peace of the sea, had left behind and for ever the foolish noise of turbulent mankind. But it was renewed again and again. Gesticulating arms, profiles of heads with open mouths appeared for a moment in the illuminated squares of Page 93doorways; black fists darted -- withdrew.....‘Yes. It was most damnable to have such an unprovoked row sprung on one,’assented the master.....A tumult of yells rose in the light, abruptly ceased.....He didn't think there would be any further trouble just then..... A bell was struck aft, another, forward, answered in a deeper tone, and the clamour of ringing metal spread round the ship in a circle of wide vibrations that ebbed away into the immeasurable night of an empty sea..... Didn't he know them! Didn't he! In past years. Better men, too. Real men to stand by one in a tight place. Worse than devils too sometimes -- downright, horned devils. Pah! This -- nothing. A miss as good as a mile.....The wheel was being relieved in the usual way. -- ‘Full and by,’said, very loud, the man going off. -- ‘Full and by,’repeated the other, catching hold of the spokes. -- ‘This head wind is my trouble,’ exclaimed the master, stamping his foot in sudden anger; ‘head wind! all the rest is nothing.’He was calm again in a moment. ‘Keep them on the move to-night, gentlemen; just to let them feel we've got hold all the time -- quietly, you know. Mind you keep your hands off them, Creighton. To-morrow I will talk to them like a Dutch Uncle. A crazy crowd of tinkers! Yes, tinkers!
I could count the real sailors amongst them on the fingers of one hand.
Nothing will do but a row -- if -- you -- please.’ He paused.
‘Did you think I had gone wrong there Mr. Baker?’ He tapped his forehead, laughed short. ‘When I saw him standing there, three parts dead and so scared -- black amongst that gaping lot -- no grit to face what's coming to us all -- the notion came to me all at once, before I could think. Sorry for him -- like you would be for a sick bruter. If ever a creature was in a mortal funk to die!....I thought I would let him go out in his own way. Kind of impulse. It never came into my head, those fools.....H'm! Stand to it now -- of course.’He stuck the belaying-pin in his pocket, seemed ashamed of himself, then sharply: -- ‘If you see Podmore at his tricks again tell him I will have him put under the pump. Had to do it once before. The fellow breaks out like that now and then. Good cook tho'.’ He walked away quickly, came back to the companion. The two mates followed him through the starlight with amazed eyes. He went down three steps, and changing his tone, spoke with his head near the deck: -- ‘I shan't turn in to-night. in case of anything; just call Page 94out if... Did you see the eyes of that sick nigger, Mr. Baker? I fancied he begged me for something. What? Past all help. One lone black beggar amongst the lot of us, and he seemed to look through me into the very hell.
Fancy, this wretched Podmore! Well, let him die in peace. I am master here after all. Say what I like. Let him be. He might have been half a man once....Keep a good look-out.’ He disappeared below, leaving his mates facing one another, and more impressed than if they had seen a stone image shed a miraculous tear of compassion over the incertitudes of life and death.....
In the blue mist spreading from twisted threads that stood upright in the bowls of pipes, the forecastle appeared as vast as a hall.
